How Pan Parag’s ‘Baraati’ ad catalysed brand endorsements among film stars
Pan Parag’s famous ‘Baraati’ ad saw the presence of thespians Shammi Kapoor and Ashok Kumar. Storyboard18 reached out to the creative team, who talked about how the ad came to be.
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The occasion is a wedding. Veteran actor Ashok Kumar is playing the bride’s father, who’s just been informed by his wife that the groom’s family has arrived. As both parties settle down with refreshments, Shammi Kapoor, the boy's father says, “Par hum aapse ek baat kehna bhool hi gaye (We missed mentioning one thing to you),” immediately filling the air with tension.
As Kumar and wife look at each other, tense, Kapoor explains that all he wants is that guests are served Pan Parag, putting everyone at ease.
The genesis
Dipak Sharma, the former Film Head of Everest Advertising, the agency tasked with making the film, said the TVC was a success.
Former film actor and director Jalal Agha had starred in various ads of the brand. But the company wanted to change the brand’s perception, and create a family-oriented image, stated Sharma.
In 1986, Mansukhbhai Kothari, the former Chairman of Kothari Products, approached Everest Advertising. The agency’s canteen was on the floor below, and Kothari told Sharma when he met him, “Neeche chalte hain. Chai peete hain, sandwich khate hain. Batata hoon kya chahiye (let’s discuss over tea and sandwiches).’’
As they conversed, Kothari narrated the story about the wedding and Pan Parag being served on the occasion. He also discussed using film actors for the ad. “Kothari was very grounded. He understood his customers, and knew who was buying Pan Parag,” said Sharma.
Sulekha Bajpai Karkare was a trainee writer at Everest at the time. She was tasked with developing the idea into a script.
Karkare stated that the dialogues flew very naturally while writing the script as such discussions before a marriage are very common.
With the script in place, Sharma approached Prem Krishen and Sunil Mehta of Cinevistaas, a production house, to cast for and make the ad.
Krishen, son of veteran actor Prem Nath, was a film actor in the mid-1970s, after which he ventured into producing ads and television shows. He is also related to the Kapoor family via his aunt Krishna, who had married the famous actor-director Raj Kapoor, which made Shammi Kapoor his uncle.
Kumar was also a close family friend of Krishen’s, who said that in those days the film fraternity used to look down on the ad industry, and hardly any actor signed up for commercials.
As Krishen loved the concept of the Pan Parag ad, he approached the senior actors. They too found the idea interesting and agreed to be part of the film. Krishen produced and directed the ad, with the famous Ashok Mehta as his cameraman.
The TVC featuring the stalwarts was well received. Also, with this, more actors warmed up to the idea of working in ad films, endorsing products. “I used to get a lot of phone calls from film stars, who said that they too wanted to act in commercials,” said Krishen.
In the TVC, when Kapoor tells Ganguly ‘Par hum aapse ek baat kehna bhool hi gaye,’ tense music strikes up in the background. Karkare says this was done on purpose. “Due to the prevalence of dowry, the bride’s side is usually nervous thinking of what demands the groom’s side might make. When the bride’s mother says ‘Ladke ke maa baap aaye hain, (The bridegroom's parents have come)’, the father looks worried. This is typically how it is during a wedding,” explained Karkare.
Challenges
When senior actors are cast, there is a fear that they would make changes to the script and the journey wouldn’t be a cakewalk. Sharma too feared this.
“We were expecting the legends to say, ‘Let’s do it like this. We'll teach you. We'll tell you,’ But, nothing like that happened. It all worked out very well,” he said. Krishen said that he too found the whole process very smooth.
After more than 35 years, we still remember this ad as it dealt with a grave matter like dowry with a light touch and catalysed the trend of film stars starring in ads.
